Meet Theo

Theo Stamos

Theo Stamos is the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington County and the City of Falls Church, Virginia, having been elected to that post in November, 2011, and re-elected in November 2015 to another four-year term. Theo first joined the office in 1987 and was promoted to Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney in 1998 and then to Chief Deputy in 2002. Theo has successfully prosecuted thousands of cases including capital murder, violent sexual assaults, domestic violence and drunk driving. As Commonwealth’s Attorney, Theo supervises a staff of assistant commonwealth’s attorneys, victim/witness specialists and support staff who daily handle a broad range of felonies and misdemeanors in both adult and juvenile court.

Theo serves as a district representative of the Commonwealth’s Attorneys’ Services Council and as co-chair of the Virginia Association of Commonwealth’s Attorneys Committee on Justice and Professionalism. She recently completed two terms as an elected member of the Virginia State Bar’s governing body where she was asked to serve on the Bar’s executive committee. She also served six years as a member of the Bar’s Standing Committee on Legal Ethics and currently serves on the faculty of the Harry L. Carrico Professionalism Course. Theo recently was selected to serve on the steering committee of the Virginia Criminal Justice Conference, a statewide body of prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and academics working to improve criminal justice in Virginia.

Locally, Theo is on the board of directors of the Arlington County Bar Foundation and previously served on the board of directors of the Arlington County Bar Association and was elected to its judicial selection committee.

Theo is also active in her community. She has served on the executive committee of the Arlington Traditional School PTA and as Family Network Chair at Swanson Middle School. She is a former member of the Yorktown HS Basketball Boosters and is a graduate of Leadership Arlington.

Theo grew up on Chicago’s South Side and graduated from Northern Illinois University with dual majors in political science and journalism. She received her law degree from American University where she attended night school while working full time as an editor and reporter for various news outlets, including The Washington Times. Her reporting included coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court among other assignments.

Her husband, Craig Esherick, is an Associate Professor of Sport Management at George Mason University and the former head men’s basketball coach at Georgetown University. Theo and Craig live in the Westover neighborhood of Arlington and have two sons.